Truth or Dare?
by roseangelriz-green27
Summary: "And here I was wishing that time would fly by fast for the end of that stupid dare, not knowing that you had so little of it left. Had I not taken dare, would I have not lost you the way that I did?" It was not just a simple game anymore. At least for Asbel and Cheria, it never was. AsbelXCheria Warning! There might be minor spoilers. And the story is a little sad. Please R


**Hiiiiiii!**

**Thank you for dropping by and opening this story Means a lot!**

**Soooo, I saw this story from Facebook and it touched my heart. It's sad yes, but really really… I don't know, it's just sad yet at the same time, it was inspiring. I just want to share it to you and I just added a little something for effect.**

**I recommend listening to the bg music of the part where Hubert drove Asbel out of Lhant and he cried to "Sophie" near the log house by the outskirts of Lhant. (It's before they met Richard again in the catacombs after 7 years) The slow piano version of the opening song is really emotional And note that this doesn't necessarily have to fit into the real storyline!**

**Well, without further ado, I give you the story.**

"...I did not leave you; I just chose to die so you could live."*

Story Start.

_Dear Asbel,_

_I have something important to tell you. You see…_

Erase.

_Dear Asbel,_

_I have something important to tell you. This may come as a shock but…_

Ugh.

'This won't do.' She thought as she sighed, tearing sheet the paper from the set from which it was attached and crumpled it furiously. The girl looked at the clock.

10:27 pm

She marched to her bed and plopped angrily, a small hmph escaping her lips before finally sighing wistfully for what seemed like the nth time. One couldn't blame her. She is about to do one of the hardest thing a person could ever do in one's lifetime.

Tell the one you love that you're going to die.

Her death sentence was announced just this morning.

It had been quite a wonderful morning actually. The sun was shining through the curtains for her window, the birds were singing and her flower garden was filled with happy, blooming flowers. All in all, it promised for a fairly good day.

Well promises are most often broken aren't they?

Yes. Most often.

Because it was certainly not the day that she expected to hear the words: "you're dying."

To which she asked "how long?"

Less than 48 hours.

It had been a huge blow to her. Her grandfather did not know what to do.

He had cried, and it was heart breaking for her to see him like that.

It was terrifying how the day she looked forward to for weeks would be the day that she would resent the most. She, after all, was to go out with Asbel today.

They finally had time to be alone since Sophie is staying over at Pascal's to play.

They did go out, but she was distracted. The day had been such a blur, keeping such a news silent in her heart while he was just a touch away.

But how could she break it to him, after watching her grandfather react that way?

-flashback-

_7:15 pm_

"_Here you go Cheria." Asbel grinned, walking her up to her house. "I had a nice time today."_

_She just nodded, an unfocused, lost look in her eyes._

"_You should probably get inside. Fredrick must be worried." His grin wavered a bit as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze._

_Cheria winced as she evaded his gaze, gently slipping her hand from his and walked to her door painfully, as if she was walking up to the gallows itself. Her hand just enclosed itself on the cold knob but she showed no sign of wanting to twist it._

"_Cheria, is something the matter?" Asbel asked from behind her, worried. "You've been acting a little strange since this morning. Plus, you look a bit too pale."_

_The pink haired maiden bit her lip and closed her eyes willing herself to calm down her thundering heart and supress the pricking in her eyes. She turned slowly, a forced smile resting on her lips as she hid her hand behind her back to hide its shaking from view._

"_I'm fine Asbel." She whispered, her voice soft and fragile as if it could break at any moment._

"_Are you sure?" the red-head stepped closer, his worried eyes meeting with her pain-filled ones._

_Her hand tightened into a fist, her face determined but her voice was shaking. "Don't be ridiculous! Of course I am…how could I not be?" _

_His eyes were unsure, reluctant to believe but it softened. Just a little. "O-Okay. If you say so."_

"_Hey Asbel…I…"_

_The young lord looked at her expectantly. "Yes?"_

_She could tell him now. This is her opportune moment. But imagining the pained look on his face, the panic in his eyes and projecting fear into his heart, she couldn't do that to him, could she?_

"_It's just…" she hesitated, both sides fighting for dominance in her head._

"_Nevermind..."Cheria's eyes flickered upwards. Above her lays a blanket of stars, the moon shining brightly, bathing Ephinea with its warm silver glow. "The stars look pretty tonight."_

"_Huh?" the boy looked from her, slightly startled from the sudden change in topic, up to the sky and a small smile lit his face. "Yeah, they do."_

_He then grinned, reminding her of the once naughty little boy she used to always hang around with. The child without a care in the world. "We should bring everyone out for stargazing sometime. It would be fun."_

_The girl's smile faltered, a hint of sadness evident. "Yeah…we should. Who knows, maybe, out there, they are looking up at the stars right now…like we are."_

_There was a moment of silence before one of them spoke up again._

"_You know Cheria, if there's something bothering you, I'll be here…" Asbel whispered, gripping back her hand, his eyes were still trained on the sky. "We'll all be here to help you. You aren't alone anymore."_

_She closed her eyes in pain. It's unbearable now._

_It turns out it is hard to leave without saying a proper goodbye._

_But she reminded herself that it would be harder to leave, the moment he refuses to let you go, and you yourself wanted to stay._

"_T-Thank you…h-hey Asbel," she choked out. There were so many things more to say, but words never found themselves pass her lips except for three golden words._

"_Truth or Dare?"_

_The question caught him of guard. "Really? Right now?" he whined._

_Same old Asbel._

"_Just answer it!"_

_Aaaaand there goes the same old Cheria._

"_Okay okay. Sorry!" the red-head rubbed the back of his head with his hand sheepishly. "Dare."_

_The young healer took a deep breath, setting her mouth into a thin line. "I dare you…not to communicate with me for the next 24 hours. No letters, no visits or no anything."_

"_What? No way, ah-uh, no deal!"_

"_That's the dare Asbel!"_

"_I take it back! Truth, I choose truth!"_

_Cheria chuckled softly. She was going to miss his whiny voice. "No can do. No revisions." She loved this man, Sophie takes a lot from him, he wasn't even aware of it. But behind their child-likeness and their suspiciously deliberate attempt to bug her about everything at any given time, they would always be two of the most important people of her life._

_She threw her arms around him tightly, catching him off guard. "W-Whoa Cheria, wh-what…?!" he stuttered out, blushing but she just shushed him. She allowed the hug to linger longer, even after he finally melted into her embrace._

_When she pulled back, she was greeted by a jubilant smile. "Well, it's going to be a loooong 24 hours. Get some rest."_

_Cheria finally opened the door and turned back to him, forcing a small sad smile. "Good night Asbel."_

_He sensed it. Her pain. Right then and there. But his words left his mouth before he knew it. "Good night Cheria."_

_She closed the door between them, her eyes trained to his even at the last moment. Even as she slid down to the floor, her back pressing against the door trying to muffle the sounds of her sobs and control the tears running down her cheeks, she knew he was standing right on the other side, sensing her pain but also not knowing it._

-flashback-

10:49 pm

Cheria cradled the pen in her hand and with his image in mind, the words found themselves outflowing from her fingers, filling in the new and once blank parchment.

2:09 am

She got him good. He thought.

It had only been a few hours into the dare and he already felt like breaking it. What's more frustrating, for some strange reason, he could not sleep. It was like time was taunting him, moving so agonizingly slow.

'I definitely have to think of a good comeback for this. I'll ask her the first second this 24 hour dare ends.' Asbel gained a thoughtful look in his face. 'Knowing Cheria, she would probably be choosing truth again."

Maybe he should ask her why she chose that kind of dare or as to why she seemed so different earlier.

She seemed in distress somehow. He then noted in panic at how she looked almost like in pain when she thinks he wasn't looking. He was afraid it was his fault.

Asbel suddenly sprung up from his bed, running to his door to throw it open before he realized something very important. The young lord banged his head against his door in mild frustration at his silliness. It's 2 am in the morning. Who would be awake at this time of day?

He was just trudging back to his bed when he heard a small crash.

The red-head looked around in alert, instinctively reaching by his side for his sword which was not there. He only calmed down when he found the source of the sound. A picture frame had fallen from his side table.

The teen reached for the frame, it contained a picture taken the day Cheria went home from her relief efforts. They opted to take a commemorative photo. Sophie had pulled Asbel's right arm and Cheria's left in front of her so the three of them were enveloped into a group hug. Both her tiny hands supported their arms (being in a position between them). Both of them rested their heads lightly on the lavender haired girl's head since she was shorter in statute. Asbel and Sophie had a look of absolute joy in their faces while Cheria offered a small, quiet yet very much jubilant smile.

But due to the impact of the fall, there had been damage on the frame's glass, a long crack along the picture, separating him and Sophie from Cheria. Asbel frowned, running his fingers along the path of the crack.

Needless to say, he found no sleep that night.

9:25 am

A loud crash startled him out of his on-the-verge-of-sleep state. Asbel immediately threw his covers off himself and ran downstairs to look for the source of the noise. He heard sounds from the guest room and without any notice, barged in.

His mother had a troubled look about her as she sad downcast on the bed, a broken vase lying just a few feet from her. Asbel immediately went to her side in worry.

"Mom! What happened?" the young lord looked around in heightened alert.

Lady Kerri looked up, catching her head in her hand. "I-I'm fine son, I just knocked off the vase accidentally that's all."

"Are you sure mom? You need water, you look pale. Fredrick!" Asbel called, his eyes scanned the room for the butler, looking for some help. But instead of the old man, there stood a broad young soldier with short silver white hair. "Bailey! What are you doing here? Where's Fredrick?"

"Lord Asbel..." Bailey bowed slightly, a grim look on his face. "I'm afraid Mr. Fredrick might not come in today."

The red-head raised his eyebrows, waiting for an explanation. "Is he sick?"

The silver haired teen shook his head. "Something happened…something worse."

This brought the teenager to his feet, his heart thundered in his chest. "Wh-what do you mean Bailey? What happened?"

"Cheria…" The look on Bailey's face is scaring him. "…"

For some reason, the rest of his sentence went uncomprehended. It might have been from the lack of sleep or from the ringing that has been in his ears. Asbel frowned. "What? What about Cheria…? What happened to her?!"

"Cheria…is…gone." Bailey paused, seemingly unable to continue as tears pricked his eyes. The silence in the room was painfully tense. "She…passed away, just this morning."

The young lord froze.

He couldn't hear anything anymore.

He couldn't feel.

He couldn't see.

He was numb as silence and darkness filled the room.

There was a dangerous flash in Asbel's eyes and faster than a blink of an eye, he shoved Bailey against the wall, his arm pressed firmly against the man's neck, pinning him in place. "I dare you to say that again!" he growled out, something inhumane sound went pass his lips as he stared at the soldier with cold predatory eyes.

Bailey was choking, his hands grasping the young lord's arm weakly, trying to keep his consciousness intact. The boy had lost rationality the moment the news registered in his mind. And no one could blame him, after all, Cheria is one of the most treasured people in his life, expecting him to act rationally would be _the_ irrational thing.

"Asbel stop!" Lady Kerri's voice rang out as she tried to hold her son's arm back. "Asbel… please! Please come back!" she pleaded, meeting his steely gaze with her teary ones.

He was unrelenting.

Unforgiving.

He was lost.

Lost in his own grief and pain.

Bailey is on the verge of losing consciousness, his color turned to near purple and Lady Kerri could think of nothing more to do.

"Cheria." She sobbed out unknowingly.

There was a flicker in her son's eyes.

"Asbel! What would Cheria say if she sees you like this?"

The sound of her name brought him back.

Asbel's arm slowly lost its strength as he stepped back the lost look in his eyes also slowly turning into shame, watching in horror at the young soldier sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath, holding the nasty bruise he might have left on the boy's neck.

Sound started to come back as he heard his mother sobbing. The feeling came back as he felt the warm wet tears rolling down his face. His sight came back, no matter how blurry it is with tears.

"Bailey…I…I'm…" the young lord stuttered out but Bailey held up a hand to stop him.

His voice was hoarse when he spoke. "I'm okay Lord Asbel…I understand."

Lady Kerri tentatively wrapped her arms around her son's tense figure, careful not to alert him in case the gesture was unwanted, but Asbel did not push her away, instead he just placed his forehead on her mother's comforting shoulder. "H-Hubert…is taking the first trip back here today to pay condolences to the Barnes family…Your friends, His Highness and Sophie…will be here early tomorrow as well… They… are very saddened to hear the news about Cheria's-"

"No…" The young teen's voice was muffled with the sound of his out pouring emotions. "No! It's…impossible!"

His head left his mother's shoulder and he stepped away. "Because…she was with me…just yesterday! She…She was laughing, she was smiling!"

"Yes, she's the type to do that." A voice from the far end of the room said.

All three of them turned to see an old man standing by the doorway. "Fredrick!"

"Young master Asbel. Forgive me for appearing to you in this state, but please let me apologize for not telling you. Cheria herself begged me to not speak a word of it to anyone after the doctor told her, her condition yesterday morning." The man standing before them was no longer the man who was always ready to be lend an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on, his strength had been zapped away. He looked frail, miserable and almost unrecognizable.

"She was really looking forward to that date, she still wanted to enjoy what is left of her time with you young master. She never wanted you to see her suffer, that's why she went even if she felt ill, even despite my protests." Fredrick's eyes shimmered in tears, his voice cracking. "She was such a good child…such a good child…."

Lady Kerri went over and held the shaking man by his shoulders. "Yes, indeed she was…she really was…" She ushered him outside, whispering comforting words.

A patter of rain knocked on the room's window and gradually began to pour down.

Asbel growled before punching the wall in anger. "She asked me to avoid her the whole day. Dammit! How could I have been so stupid?!"

"Cheria must've found it very hard to tell you, that's why she chose not to see you afterwards, knowing her time is near." Bailey spoke softly, looking at the teen sadly. The red head took a deep breath and barrelled past him, up the stairs and locked himself in his room.

The young soldier left the room with a small sigh. Lady Kerri who was looking from the bottom of the stairs with worried eyes looked at him. "It's better to leave him alone for now."

"I have to go now Lady Kerri." Fredrick bowed gently at the lady before handing her a sealed envelope. "My…g-granddaughter wanted young master Asbel to have this."

The blunette took the precious article and nodded. "Be strong Fredrick. Bailey, I trust you to assist Fredrick in any way you can."

"Yes, Lady Kerri."

2: 09 pm

"Asbel."

The Lady of Lhant knocked on her son's door once more. "Asbel, you've been there the whole day…You have not yet eaten anything. Please come out!"

"I'm not hungry mom." His muffled voice came in through the door, but no shuffling or sounds of feet to signify a sign of wanting to open the door was heard. So Lady Kerri just kneeled down and carefully slipped the envelope under the door, into the other side.

"Fredrick gave me that envelope…he said Cheria wanted you to have it."

Asbel stared at the envelope and made no move to get it.

'I am so worthless Cheria…'

'Here I was wishing that time would fly by fast for the end of that stupid dare, not knowing that you had so little time left. It was like I myself was wishing you would die faster…'

'Had I not taken dare, would I have not lost you the way that I did? '

4:50 am

The night had passed, the rain had stopped and it was nearly daybreak.

Asbel had, had no sleep; his body doesn't seem to be tired but he wished his mind was. Memories flooded him, and he is on the verge of drowning. He wanted to stop thinking, but he knows that if he sleeps, he'll dream.

So finally, he picked it up.

His fingers are shaking when he opened the carefully sealed envelope. As he pulled the letter out, he hesitated, debating whether to unfold it or not.

His loneliness needed company and his questions needed answers. With absolute resolution, Asbel braced himself and slowly unfolded the letter.

A peek of her script handwriting appeared before he finally soothed out the second fold. Lying atop the letter was a bookmark. From the looks of it, it was a Sopheria pressed and preserved. It was the very same bookmark that they picked up whilst looking for Cheria when Raymond captured her. The first ever flower he gave her after they went up to Lhant Hill without her.

The teen set aside bookmark and turned his attention to the letter. He clutched it tightly, taking a deep ragged breath; he set his mouth into a thin line.

Pain gripped him hard. He could hardly breathe. Something bile was stuck in his throat and he swallowed nervously. Mustering up all his strength, he started reading.

_Hey Asbel,_

_ If you're reading this letter, then that means you have already heard of my death._

How she could say it so simply like that infuriated him.

_I'm sorry._

'Dammit Cheria! You don't start letters with 'I'm Sorry'…Saying sorry…won't bring you back.'

_I know you're angry._

'No, I'm pissed as hell.'

_You must be making that kind of face again, reminds me of the old times._

_Remember when we were little, and you use to scowl at me whenever we all decide to play truth or dare. You say "It's illogical; it is neither a physical enhancing activity nor a mind challenging game. Why should I play it? It's for girls." I remember your incredulous voice, and how you rolled your eyes when I made a deal with you that someday I'm going to make you like it._

_ Did you actually managed to like it? I really wasn't sure at all. Funny isn't it? Whenever you see me down or whenever I feel ill, you were always there by the side of my bed, holding my hand and with that warm smile on your face uttering the words: "truth or dare?" Maybe you did learn to like it. Or was that simply to lift my spirits? I guess I'll never know._

'Yes, at one point I did learn to like it, knowing it helped you. But now…I despise it.'

_ But there is one thing I do know._

_I know you must hate me now. Using the dare and all. But I can't bring myself to look you in the eyes and tell you my predicament. I tried writing letters so many times but I just can't find the right words to tell you. _

_Alright. You got me. I was afraid. Afraid that if I see you one last time, the kind glow in your eyes and the gentle smile resting on your lips, it might get harder for me to leave you. This isn't like me though. Up until now, I hadn't realized…that disappearing from this world…not being able to be by your side anymore…would be so lonely. **_

'Since when…since when have you been suffering like this? All alone…' As if reading his thoughts, the next part did so elaborate.

_ You see, the doctors detected something in me and they deemed it incurable. It was about 2 months ago, they said that I was already at a difficult stage. I couldn't tell you. Maybe because I was too confident with myself. I thought that when the sickness I had when I was a child disappeared I am safe, or that I thought I cannot catch anything worse, not when I finally have healing powers. I was naive. _

_That's why I asked you to avoid me this whole day. It was certainly hard for me, not seeing you, not hearing your voice and not being able to hold your reassuring hand but I know you can survive life without me. You managed it for one day, now you must learn to do the same from today onwards._

'No I can't.'

_Yes, you can Asbel Lhant! Not only for your sake, but for Sophie's as well. You promised to take care of her right? You have to live on, for everyone else. I have not the heart to mention anything to the others, but I wished I could be there for Hubert and Pascal's wedding. I wish I could see Lhant, Stratha and Fendel unite under Richard's rule. I wish I could go to Captain Malik for more of his useful advices._

_ I wish I could see how we would live in Lhant with Sophie. And, I wish…I could've shown you how much I love you Asbel. There are so many things I wanted and still want to do, with you and Sophie and everyone else._

_So many more._

The rest of the words became unreadable. His vision was obstructed by the tears pooling in his eyes. The letter spoke to him; it was like he could hear her fragile voice behind every letter. She was scared, she was crying yet she was trying to keep herself cheerful. He could already imagine her shaking fingers, penning up her will to burst into tears as she tried to write in her usual neat script.

Asbel wanted to hold her in his arms, make her smile and never let her go yet at the same time he wanted to scold her and tell her she was being unfair by keeping all of this suffering on her own.

He watched his tears wet a portion of the paper he had just read. She was wrong, he is not strong. Not alone. She was his strength. She was the one who taught him the beauty of things around him when he was living in his dark horizons. She was the one who stuck to his side no matter what happened. Now she is gone and to him it felt like she had taken all those wonderful, magical things with her as well.

_I have one last request._

This time he could see her, smiling sadly.

_ Truth or Dare?_

'Dare.'

_ This time, for the last time, I know that you'll still answer dare. I'm right aren't I? _

'As always.' The red-head closed his shaking hand into a fist as his knees collapsed.

She had been so scared. She was in great pain, and he wasn't even aware of it.

_ I dare you Asbel Lhant…_

His fingers skimmed the next words slowly, sobs tearing away from his quivering lips.

_ Don't cry…_

_ Please don't cry._

The young lord closed his eyes and willed his tears to stop as he wiped his eyes harshly with the back of his hand. He allowed it to stay there as he rose to his feet, standing still and silent until he calmed down enough to finish the letter.

_ I know I'll see you again someday. For now, I'll just watch over you. Oh, take very good care of that Sopheria alright? It was the one that helped me going when you left; I know you need it the most right now._

_Thank you for being the boy who wanted to spend time with a sickly girl like me. Thank you for being the man who took responsibility in his hands and protected everyone. And most of all, Thank you…_

_Thank you for loving me… Goodbye, Asbel._

_-Cheria_

He stared at it for a short while before placing the parchment on his bed, walking to the window and peering out into the landscape that is Lhant. The sun was still barely aloft the surface, the stars still twinkling high up.

The world looks like it's mocking him. How could it glow in beauty and promise happiness when he feels like his own world, his heart, is crumbling away?

"You cheated Cheria…." Asbel whispered to the wind, allowing it to cool the damp tear streaks on his face and ruffle his red locks. "It was supposed to be my turn."

fin

**So, how was it?**

**Please don't kill me!**

**I REALLY love this couple, believe me. It's just that the story came up to me all of a sudden and I wanted to use it immediately. I did do a tweak somewhere by incorporating the truth and dare game into it.**

**By the way! Very important stuff, the sentence with the asterix and double asterix (did I spell that right?) yeah, it's this symbol right here - * and ** (I know you guys know how it looks like but oh well!)**

**Anyways, as I was saying, the quote and sentence are adapted from somewhere. **

***A direct translation of a line from a Filipino movie (no copyright intended)**

**** To people who get the reference, good for you! For those who do not, well, I'm still happy to know that you read that far already! But it's a line from Pandora Hearts, just want to point that out!**

**A bit of a trivia, that part where Asbel says one should not start a letter with "I'm Sorry", I was actually very shocked when I watched the part where he sailed away from home to be a knight, his letter to Cheria actually started with an apology! Boy was it a surprise for me, I actually only re-watched that part in the eng dub after writing this :D Amazingggg!**

**Ooookay, that's it for now. Comments, suggestions and constructive criticism are welcomed Hoping to hear from you guys!**

** -Riz**


End file.
